The Faster Times » Media And Tech2014-12-24T16:40:13Zhttp://www.thefastertimes.com/feed/atom/WordPressJoe Lazauskashttp://thefastertimes.comhttp://www.thefastertimes.com/?p=2949562013-08-14T17:39:32Z2013-08-14T16:13:03ZLast time, I ranted about the terrifying possibilities of the budding “let’s give our most popular sports writer his own show” trend. Because it’s not hard to imagine an apocalyptic scenario where ESPN gives Rick Reilly his own site and staff of writers to churn out hyper-moralizing bullshit that a large group of people eat [...]

Last time, I ranted about the terrifying possibilities of the budding “let’s give our most popular sports writer his own show” trend. Because it’s not hard to imagine an apocalyptic scenario where ESPN gives Rick Reilly his own site and staff of writers to churn out hyper-moralizing bullshit that a large group of people eat up because it reinforces their narrow-minded beliefs. It’ll be like the Tea Party of sports media, and you have to admit, Rick Reilly makes a good Michelle Bachman.

FiveThirtyEight will be getting an upgrade, as Silver apparently ordered “The Grantland.” It comes with 15 staffers and a lot of long, awkward office-stopovers by Bill Simmons. Plus, Silver and his predictive stats will get serious TV time on ESPN and chances to plug the new FiveThirtyEight, which Silver explained as thus on Simmons’ B.S. Report podcast:

“It’s narrative in a sense, right? Where you are kind of trying to explain something in a narrow sphere that people can then think about and can apply to broader spheres. Like I said, it’s almost more of a feature magazine, kind of glossy mentality where you blow certain things out in a really compelling way instead of trying to cover a little bit of everything.”

Anyway, it’s easy to see why ESPN is making this leap to embrace analytics. We’re in a post-Money Ball era, and not just because you’re always “post” anything that Brad Pitt has starred in a movie about. It’s also not just because the vast majority of sports franchises have finally adopted a comprehensive approach to statistical analysis in recent years. It’s because advanced stats have trickled down to be a key part of many sports fans’ lexicons in recent years.

Grantland has become a proof point for that for ESPN. The popular site’s signature voices have not been average-bro writers like Simmons, but rather geeks like Bill Barnwell and Zach Lowe, who have proved that stat and film geeks can become nationally popular columnists. When comments are allowed on a Zach Lowe post, they’re filled with fans thanking him for diving deep into advanced analytics and teaching them a more complex side of the game. Fans have always craved sports knowledge, and the digital age is allowing that knowledge to flourish and spread like never before. After all, if there’s one thing that dudes will read about, it’s football.

As a result, it’s hard to win a sports bar argument anymore if you don’t bring some advanced stats to the table. And sports fans are extremely obsessive and prideful motherfuckers; we’ll crave a site like FiveThirtyEight to give us a leg up. Shit, they might even turn into Keith Olbermann’s show, which, rumor has it, will feature Silver extensively.

ESPN has surely been hearing the complaints about its superficial and repetitive coverage, and probably knows that it’s a bad sign that people are so excited for FOX Sports 1 to launch on Saturday, as an alternative to ESPN. Here’s hoping that FS1 decides to jump out ahead of ESPN on stat-geekery, mostly so that we can have an analytics arms race that ends with John Hollinger elected president and Rick Reilly complaining loudly at the unemployment office. (I know Reilly’s worth a gajillion dollars, but he’s the kind of douchebag who would still file for unemployment, ya know?)